


Always Here

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-20
Updated: 2006-02-20
Packaged: 2019-01-19 06:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12404514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: [One Shot] Life and love after Voldemort are beyond compare...but sometimes other evil things can be forgotten. Will Harry and Ginny's life be the same?





	Always Here

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

  


She stood there, in a long black robe, with her hair soaking wet from the rain; thoughts constantly running through her mind. She paid no attention to whether there were people around her any longer.  She didn’t care. 

   


Taking in a choked breath, she felt one tear fall onto her cheek. With that one tear, there were a thousand memories, a thousand moments of good times and bad, a thousand images burned in her mind, and one name connected them all.

   
   
 **** _2 Weeks Ago  
_    


“Harry! Stop it!” Ginny said between giggles, while struggling to escape the arms around her.

   


Harry had been tickling her relentlessly, making it quite hard for Ginny to breathe.  “Oh, no!  You know that I can’t just let you get away with dousing me with pumpkin juice! Come here, you,” he continued as Ginny managed to barely slip out of his fingers.

   


Ginny ran from him, trying to put as much distance between them as she could. “Now, Mr. Potter, you behave yourself or we are going to have a problem,” she said warningly.

   


“Tsk, tsk. Why so formal, _Mrs. Potter_?” Harry said mockingly as he edged towards Ginny. “And what kind of problem might we have? I see nothing wrong with what I’m doing.” He reached out, and instead of tickling her again, he pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately and making her tense body go limp.  Ginny loved the fact that every time Harry kissed her, it was full of such emotion, such… _overwhelming_ emotion.  

   


Harry and Ginny had been married for almost one year. One glorious year. As a matter of fact, tomorrow was their one year anniversary and they were both looking forward to it, because they had been planning something special. 

   


They would be taking a week of vacation from their jobs and going on a trip for some quality time together.  Ginny was hoping for no interruptions, but she wasn’t promised anything.  Ever since Harry had become an auror, a month after they were married, the Ministry had him working on almost every case that they thought might even be remotely dangerous.

   


Needless to say, Ginny was quite upset when Harry said that he would have to tell his boss where they were going on their trip.  She just hoped that the Ministry wouldn’t come running with some small case that another auror was fully capable of handling.  She made sure that Harry told them that they could only be interrupted if it was an emergency and no one else was qualified.  That was an understanding that she wanted to be made crystal clear.  

   


For now, Ginny was enjoying a carefree evening with her husband. She was in a bit of a silly mood, which she didn’t get to feel like very often. Now that they were both officially on vacation, she felt very relaxed; of course, that kiss had helped too.

   


Ginny whimpered as she felt Harry’s lips pull away from hers. “You keep kissing me like that and we might not be able to collect ourselves enough to go away for our little trip.” Ginny said with a smile forming at the corner of her lips, as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up into his.  

   


“Is that a promise?” Harry asked with a grin.

   


“Oh, no! We’re not staying home after all the planning we’ve done. Besides, it’s a nice, secluded little town and that cottage we’ve rented is too lovely to pass up.” Ginny said shooting him an ‘I-can’t-believe-that-even-crossed-your-mind’ look.  

   


“No, no, of course not, because no matter where we go, I’ll have you all to myself.  Which means, I can do whatever I want with you, whenever I want to.” He said smirking, as he swept Ginny up into his arms and walked back towards their bedroom.

   


Gently laying her down on the bed, Harry spoke with a fire behind his emerald eyes. “Now, if you don’t mind _love_ , I’d like to spend some beneficial snogging time with my dear wife.”

   


“By all means- ah,” Ginny stopped him by putting a finger on his lips before he reached hers. “But, we have to make sure that we get some packing done tonight.”

   


“Gin, you worry too much. It’ll get done.” _Whether it’s tonight or in the morning before we leave_ , Harry thought, as he leaned into Ginny, kissing her sweetly and passionately.

   


\--------------------------

   


“For heaven’s sake, Harry! You said we’d get the packing done last night before we went to bed.” Ginny said, shoving her clothes into a trunk. “We were supposed to be there five minutes ago.”

   


“Gin, really, calm down; it’s ok. Just relax. This is supposed to be a vacation, remember?” Harry reached out and grabbed her shoulders trying to make her slow down.

   


Taking in a deep breath, Ginny said, “fine. I’ll calm down if you promise to stop taking your precious time and get a move on.”

   


“Deal,” Harry nodded, accepting her terms.

   


The two of them finished packing and were just about ready to leave, as Ginny placed a letter on the refrigerator for Ron and Hermione.

   


Harry and Ginny had only told everyone that they were going out of town, but they never mentioned where. She knew that the two of them would be by sometime soon to see after Hedwig and naturally, Ron would head straight for the refrigerator to get some food.  So there was a good chance they would spot the note. It wasn’t much anyway, but Ginny thought she’d leave it, in any case.

   
 _Hermione & Ron,  
_ _Thanks so much for coming by to take care of Hedwig for us. Harry and I really appreciate it.  
_ _Hedwig’s food & snacks are in the bottom cabinet on the left.  
_ _If you need anything **that is of great importance** , send Hedwig. She’ll know where to find us.  
_ _Thanks again! And we’ll see you in a week.  
_ _  
__All Our Love,  
_ **** _Ginny & Harry_  
   


“Ready to go?” said Harry, gathering as many bags as he could and levitating them into the air.

   


“Yep; just leaving a note for Ron and Hermione.” Ginny came out of the kitchen, grabbing a few more bags and walked over to stand by Harry.

   


“Do you care to tell me why you need so many bags? It’s just the two of us and we’re only going to be gone for a week.”

   


“I’m not even going to bother trying to explain that to you, because I’ll waste valuable time and you still won’t get it. Now, can we finally get out of here?” Ginny asked, more than ready to be gone.

   


Rolling his eyes at her, he said, “Right away, _ma’am_.”

   


They took each other’s hand and in an instant, they both apparated to the charming cottage that they would be staying at for the next week.

   


\----------------------------------

   


“Gin?...where are you?” said Harry, wandering around the place.

   


Ginny called back, “I’m in the kitchen Harry.”

   


 “What are you doing in here?”

   


“Just getting ready to make us dinner,” she said, chopping a few vegetables.

   


Harry walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He hungrily kissed her neck and she unconsciously moved her head, giving him more room.  He continued on, occasionally nibbling her earlobe, until Ginny couldn’t concentrate on what she was doing, and finally stopped.

   


She moaned wearily, almost giving in. “As much as I love this,” she said, her breath catching as he reached a sensitive spot, “you’d…better…stop, if you want to eat any time soon.”

   


“Oh…forget about eating. I have other things on my mind right now.” 

   


“Harry!”

   


He gave her an incredulous look, “What? I can’t help myself. I mean, here we are celebrating our anniversary, about to spend a solid week of solitude together and all I can think about is how much I want to be with my beautiful wife, at this very moment.”

   


Ginny put down the knife that she had just been using and slowly turned around to face Harry.  She bit her lip and blushed at his straightforwardness.  “Well…I guess dinner could wait a bit longer. I’m not really _that_ hungry, after all.”

   


Harry raised his brow and with a smile forming at the corner of his lips, he winked at her. She felt butterflies in her stomach and laughed at herself.  She was always amazed at how he could still make her feel like a school girl. 

   


Ginny watched Harry as he took her delicately, by the hand, and led her upstairs, to the bedroom.  

   


\----------------------------

   


Harry turned over onto his side, propping his head up on one hand and wrapping his other arm around Ginny’s small waist.  He leaned down slightly, placing a tender kiss on her bare shoulder. 

   


“I love you so much, Gin.”

   


“I love you too, Harry,” said Ginny, turning back to meet Harry’s lips with another kiss. As she moved to lie on her back, she kept her eyes away from his as she spoke, “Harry...?”

   


“Hmm?” he muttered as he traced kisses all over her hand, working his way up her arm.

   


Ginny proceeded cautiously, “There’s been something that’s been running through my mind again. I’ve…I’ve been thinking about… having a baby.” She let the last few words run out of her mouth.  

   


Harry stopped and looked up at her, forcing her eyes to look into his. “You know that I want us to have a family more than anything, right?”

   


Ginny simply nodded.

   


“Then if you’re ready, I’m ready.”

   


“But Harry, you know that we’ve tried before and haven’t had any luck,” said Ginny, dropping her eyes in disappointment.  

   


Harry nudged her chin up so that she would look at him again. “There is nothing wrong with you. Don’t even let that thought go through your mind. There’s nothing wrong with either of us, we’re both young and healthy and we have all the time in the world ahead of us.

   


“Maybe it’s just that we’ve both been so busy that we were too distracted to really focus on having a baby.” Harry brushed back Ginny’s hair from her face. There was nothing more he adored than spending time with his wife. Granted, he’d miss spending time with her, once a baby was in the picture, but he had no problem with sharing her. After all, it made him even happier to think that the two of them could produce a life together, from their love.

   


“Who knows, maybe this little afternoon excursion of ours will have paid off even more than we intended.” Harry said with a cheeky smirk on his face.

   


Ginny’s expression finally lifted and she chuckled at his comment. “Well, you think mighty highly of yourself, don’t you?”

   


With his smirk still lingering, Harry said, “that I do,” and she laughed at him again, this time, more heartily.

   


He saw her eyes dance with laughter and it filled him with even more love for her. 

   


“Gin, I love you and there is nothing that would make me happier than to have a family with you. To think that they would be the products of our love, it makes me so proud to have been able to marry such an outstanding woman.”

   


Ginny’s cheeks flushed and a warmth spread throughout her body as she laid there in Harry’s arms. 

   


\---------------------------

   


The next couple of days, things were going as well as planned. They went out to a few muggle museums, had picnics during the day, in beautiful open fields near their cottage, and spent their nights under a star filled sky, lying in each other’s arms.  This was, by far, the best time that Harry or Ginny had in a very long time.

   


One day, Ginny had gone out to pick some flowers while Harry stayed in the cottage, making lunch for the two of them.  As she walked back, Ginny felt so carefree, like nothing else in the world mattered, except for her and Harry. She wished that she could feel like this every day.

   


She opened the door to the cottage, calling to him. “Harry, I’m back. Do you need some help in the kitchen?” When she didn’t hear him respond, she called after him again, “Harry?”

   


He wasn’t in the kitchen, Ginny noticed as she entered the room. _Where could he have gone?_ The food that he had been preparing was still sitting on the counter, unfinished.

   


She walked around, searching for Harry, when suddenly, she found him in the sitting room. “Hey, there you are. What are you doing in here? I thought you were making lunch?” Noticing something in his hand, she asked, “What do you have there?”

   


Ginny made her way towards Harry, who still hadn’t answered her, hadn’t even moved since she came in the room.  She leaned down to where he was sitting, kissed him on the forehead and then began trying to read the letter that he was holding.

   


Harry quickly jumped to attention. Trying to hide the letter that she almost read, he began acting a little suspicious.  “Erm…er…Hey! When did you come in?  Did you get loads of flowers?”

   


“Yeah, I got some really beautiful ones. Er…did you not hear me calling you?”

   


“No. I must have been a little distracted,” Harry said as he tried to keep her from asking what the letter was about.  However, his attempts didn’t work.

   


“I’ll say. You were so engrossed in that letter that you didn’t move until I kissed you. Who’s the letter from?” Ginny said as she tried to reach around his back and take the letter from his hand.

   


He jerked it away, desperately trying to keep it from her. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a letter from…Ron and Hermione saying that they hope we’re having a wonderful time.”

   


“Uh huh, like I’m going to believe that line, Harry. For one thing, I don’t see Hedwig around, anywhere, and for another thing, if it was from Ron and Hermione, you wouldn’t have tried to hide it from me.  Who’s it from Harry?” When he didn’t answer her, she stretched her hand out to him, “give it to me…now.”

   


“I told you its nothing-“

   


“ _Now_ , Harry.” Ginny was getting irritated. She knew he was hiding something from her and she had a feeling it wasn’t something that she was going to like.

   


Closing his eyes and clenching his jaw, Harry gave in and held the letter out, in front of him, for her to take it.

   


Ginny looked at the letter cautiously, first noticing the seal that had been broken. It was the Ministry’s seal.  Her jaw suddenly locked in place, preparing herself for what she was about to read.  Before she could even finish reading it, she shot a furious look at Harry and almost yelled, “ _I can’t believe those bloody stupid gits!_ They’re all arses, you know.  Every single one of them!!”

   


Harry stood there in silence with his head hung low.

   


“Please tell me you’re not-,” she observed as much of his face that she could see, “ _Merlin_! You are! You’re going to go, aren’t you?”

   


“Gin, I don’t really have a choice,” he pleaded, finally looking at her.

   


With her voice steadily rising, she became even angrier. “Bloody hell, you do! You don’t _have_ to go in. Just tell them you’re on vacation.”

   


“Gin…you know I can’t. Besides, you read it. It sounded quite important. In fact, they said that if I didn’t apparate there within 5 minutes of receiving the letter, Mr. Burton would come here himself, to talk to me. I got the letter almost 5 minutes ago; I’ve just been frozen in place since I opened it, because I knew you wouldn’t be happy about it.” Harry moved closer to her. “I’m so sorry, Gin.”

   


She flinched, being quite hurt that he would leave from their vacation to go back to work. “Don’t ‘Gin’ me. I knew this was coming. It was just a gut feeling.  I _knew_ they’d come calling after you and you’d go running-“

   


“You know good and well that I wouldn’t go if it wasn’t important-“

   


They heard a pop and turned in the direction from where it came. There, indeed, was Mr. Burton, himself.  _This has to be important_ , Harry thought, _for my boss to come and get me personally_. 

   


“Ah! There you are, Potter. Come on, we need to be going immediately,” said Mr. Burton as he walked towards him and making an attempt to usher him out.

   


“Hang on just a moment, Mr. Burton,” Ginny chimed in before Harry could say a word.  “Harry might not be forward enough to ask you what’s so important the he has to leave his vacation to handle, but I am.  What exactly is it that no one else can handle?” She had her hands on her hips now, with a scowl on her face.

   


Harry dropped his head, wishing that Ginny hadn’t overreacted like she just did.

   


Mr. Burton, reluctant to say anything at first, finally spoke.  “Fine, Mrs. Potter.  I’m sure you’d find out sometime soon anyway, with particular members of your family working at the Ministry.” Looking at them both, Mr. Burton continued, “it’s Draco Malfoy.”

   


A look of bewilderment came over both Harry and Ginny. Harry spoke first, “I thought that Malfoy was no longer a concern of ours? What’s changed?”

   


Indeed, Malfoy had not been seen or heard of since Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts. Even after Harry defeated Voldemort two years ago, there was still no sign of him anywhere. 

   


“He’s been spotted in London, recently,” said Mr. Burton.

   


“But-,” Ginny started, “why, if it _is_ him, would he show his face in London of all places. He should know that he would be easily recognized there.”

   


“We honestly don’t know what reasoning there was behind him showing up all of a sudden, but we’ve received word recently that he’s been causing big problems in America and now, he’s gathered a rather large group of followers, as well.”  Looking at Harry, he went on, “we know that you’ll be our best choice to handle this case. We’re going to be sending Shacklebolt with you.”  

   


Ginny collapsed into the chair that she was standing in front of. She suddenly felt very ill. _Why does this always have to happen right when we get a moment’s peace?_ she thought.

   


“I understand, sir. Erm…do you mind if I have a minute with my wife?” Harry said as he glanced over at Ginny. He knew that she was still upset about all of this, but he didn’t want to leave it like that.

   


Contemplating his decision, he nodded slightly, “yes, that’s fine. Just make it quick Potter. We need to move on this, post haste.”

   


“Yes, sir. I’ll be just behind you.”

   


With another pop, Mr. Burton apparated from the cottage and Harry turned back to face Ginny.

   


“Gin,” he said tentatively, “you know that I wouldn’t go if this wasn’t really important. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to leave you, you know that; but with Malfoy out there, there’s no telling what kind of havoc he’ll wreak.”

   


Ginny swallowed hard. She really was feeling sick.  All of this had hit her like a thousand bricks, and she didn’t like the taste it was leaving in her mouth.  “Harry, I’m just so tired. It never ends; it never will, will it? They will always be there to interrupt us somehow, someway. And you’ll always go.”

   


“No, I won’t always go. I…” he paused briefly before continuing, “…this is different.”

   


With a surrendering sigh, she barely spoke, “how is this any different?”

   


“This is Malfoy. You know what he almost did. You know he came close to killing Dumbledore. With him back, I don’t want to take any risks of him trying to mess up our lives.”

   


She didn’t want to hear anymore and she started to turn away, but he stopped her before she could really move.

   


“Why does a man do it? He does what he must. I have to go Gin, if for nothing else than to make sure that you are safe.  You know how much Malfoy hates me and I don’t want him getting anywhere near you. He’ll attack me in any way that he can.  And in all honesty, you are my biggest weakness.  I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you.”

   


Ginny started crying. She still hadn’t said anything to him.

   


“Please, Gin…I don’t want to leave like this. I don’t want to go with us still arguing and upset,” said Harry, his voice desperately pleading with her. He reached up, wiping away some of her tears.

   


She warily lifted her head, looking back at Harry. “I just wanted us to finally be able to spend some time together, without interruptions.”

   


“I promise, as soon as I take care of Malfoy, we’ll finish our vacation.”

   


She shook her head as she felt another tear fall, “Harry…” she wept and wrapped her arms around his neck.

   


Harry couldn’t feel any worse for leaving her, but he was determined that Malfoy would not become a threat to their lives.  

   


“I know, Gin. I know.” He kissed her lips gently. Feeling his emotion overcome him, he felt a tear roll slowly down his cheek and he breathed despairingly.

   


“Let me take you home, before I head to the Ministry.”

   


“No, you go on, I’ll be fine.” 

   


“But, I don’t want to leave you right this second. You don’t look well. Just let me take you home so that I’ll know that you are ok.” Harry was concerned about her. Since she’d found out about him having to leave, she’d turned very pale and gaunt.  He hated seeing her worry about him, and he knew that was exactly what was going through her head.

   


“Alright, but we’d better hurry. You need to get to the Ministry,” Ginny said as she tried standing up. However, she became dreadfully lightheaded and too weak to continue standing.

   


As she started to fall, Harry reached out, catching her.  He was now very worried about her, as he tried to sit her in the chair. “Gin?! Are you alright?”

   


“Yeah...I’m just…I just got a little dizzy.” Her voice sounded terribly weak. She wondered what had brought this on. Yes, she was worried about Harry going off to fight Malfoy. She was upset with him for leaving in the middle of their vacation, but she didn’t think that it warranted the dizziness or weak feeling that had suddenly come over her.

   


“Let’s get you home, now.”

   


“What about our things?” Ginny asked as Harry tried to pull her away.

   


“I’ll ask Hermione and Ron to come back and get our things. I don’t want you worrying about any of it, especially with you feeling the way that you do now.” 

   


Harry swept her off her feet, cradling her in his arms.

   


“Harry, there’s no need for you to carry me. I’m fine. I can walk on my own,” Ginny kept insisting.

   


“Would you just let me take care of you? I’m going to be gone for who knows how long. So, I want to be able to take care of you for as long as I can.”

   


Harry walked out the door of the cottage, carrying Ginny and then apparated back to their flat.  As he opened the door, he was relieved to find that Ron and Hermione were not there. He honestly didn’t want them hounding her right now. Plus, he didn’t have the time to sit and have a lengthy conversation about everything that had just happened.

   


He carefully laid Ginny on the sofa, placing a pillow behind her head.  “You stay here, ok? I don’t want you moving to do anything. I’m going to pop over to Ron and Hermione’s flat and ask Ron to go get our things while Hermione comes over to make some nice soup for you. How’s that sound?” said Harry as he pulled a blanket over her. 

   


“Harry, you act as if I have a cold or something. I’m telling you, I’m ok. I just got a little dizzy, that’s all.”

   


“Well, I don’t know what needs to be done when you get dizzy, other than rest. So…rest! Ok, I’m going to their flat now and then from there I’ll head to the Ministry.” He was talking hurriedly and running about the place doing things, but he slowed down when it finally crept into his head, _I’m about to leave my wife and I don’t know how long it’s going to be until I see her again._

   


Harry stopped everything that he was doing and sat down on the sofa next to Ginny. He leaned over, kissing her on the forehead, then on the tip of her nose. He continued to trace a trail of kisses all over her face, until he finally met her lips. This kiss was different. He could feel the hesitance of both of them to let go, their longing to stay by each other’s side, yet at the same time, he also felt how weak she was and a tear rolled down his cheek, touching hers as well.

   


As they broke apart, Ginny looked into his emerald eyes. “Harry…don’t worry about me, alright?  I’ll be fine, I promise. You just need to concentrate on getting Malfoy and then coming back home to me.” She sighed deeply, “I’m sorry that I got so upset about Mr. Burton coming to get you. All I wanted was to spend a little time with you. It’s been too few and far between and I didn’t want us to fall apart.”

   


“Ginny, there is no way that we would ever fall apart. I love you, and I’m certainly going to spend the rest of my life doing just that. Plus, weren’t we just talking about starting a family? That’s number two on my list, right behind you.” Harry smiled demurely and kissed her one last time before getting up to leave.

   


“Ok…I’m off to Ron and Hermione’s flat. Is there anything else that I can get you before I go?”

   


“No, I’m ok.”

   


Harry walked towards the door, opening it slowly, when he heard Ginny.

   


“Harry…” she said, seeing him turn in response, “I love you.” 

   


“I love you too,” he said, smiling sadly. “I’ll see you soon, my love,” and without warning, he was gone.

   


\-------------------------

   


#  _ A Week and A Half Later  
_

   


“Have you heard from him lately?” asked Hermione, as she and Ginny walked down Diagon Alley.

   


“No. Not since a few days ago. He sent an owl saying that they were getting close to Malfoy and that he might not get a chance to write back for a while, depending on their progress.”  
  


Ginny was getting a little tired of just killing time in Diagon Alley.  The only reason she needed to come was to get a new cauldron, but she and Hermione decided to make an afternoon of it and do a little shopping.

   


“Hermione, I’m getting a bit tired. I think I’m going to go back to the flat.” Ginny said resigning in her efforts.

   


“Are you still under the weather from last week?”

   


Ginny simply nodded. She didn’t want to elaborate on it in the middle of Diagon Alley. “Listen, why don’t you come back with me? I need to talk to you in private.”

   


“Yeah, sure,” said Hermione and a moment later, they apparated to Harry and Ginny’s flat.

   


Ginny and Hermione sat their bags down in the hallway and walked into the sitting room to rest.

   


“Does Harry still know that you’re still not feeling very well?”

   


“No. I haven’t mentioned anything in my letters. Besides, I know why I’m not feeling well; I just don’t like the idea of telling Harry in a letter. I think this needs to be said in person.”

   


“Well, what is it? What’s the matter?” Hermione didn’t understand why she hadn’t said anything before, about still being ill, and why did she need to see Harry in person about it.

   


“With Harry being gone right now, I’m not sure this is the best time for this to happen, but…what can you do about it? It’s not like I can control it.”

   


“For heaven’s sake, Ginny spit it out!” Hermione was getting irritated; she wanted to know what was going on.

   


Ginny stuttered, trying to make the words come out. “It’s just that…I’m…”

   


“Oh my MERLIN! You’re not…you can’t be…” Hermione was going mental. 

   


Ginny thought she might catch on quickly but she never expected her to react this way. She had a look of panic across her face. _This isn’t right_ , Ginny thought.

   


“I’ll _KILL_ Malfoy myself. He’s put some kind of curse on you and it’s killing you, hasn’t he?! I knew that bloody git would find some way to penetrate through to Harry’s weakness. I tried to tell myself…” Hermione started to go off on a tangent now. Ginny thought she quite liked talking to herself sometimes; _at least she gets an intelligent conversation that way._

   


“…I just had this gut feeling…I mean he hates Harry so much…he couldn’t have enough heart to not stoop so low…” Hermione continued.

   


“Hermione… _Hermione_ …” Ginny kept trying to stop her before she went too far off the deep end, _I think she’s already gotten there_. “HERMIONE…I’m not cursed…I’M PREGNANT!”

   


“…that low down dirty-,” she stopped in mid sentence. With a dumbfounded look, she stared at Ginny as if she didn’t understand the words that had just come out of her mouth. “You’re…you’re … _w-what_?”

   


She cursed herself for shouting that out loud, it’s just that Hermione was not going to shut up otherwise. Breathing deeply, Ginny uttered those same words again, “I’m pregnant.”

   


Hermione was still having a hard time believing what she had just heard. “How come you didn’t tell me sooner? _How come you haven’t told Harry yet_?”

   


“This is exactly one of the reasons why I haven’t said anything before now. I knew you would freak out. Plus, I didn’t want to say anything until I knew for sure. I had a doctor’s appointment a few days ago and it was confirmed. Besides, I’ve already told you, I don’t want to tell Harry in a letter; I want to tell him face to face. And, I really wanted him to know before anyone else found out, so that means I don’t want _any_ peeps out of you. Do you understand?”

   


“Of course, Ginny; you know that I wouldn’t tell anyone if you didn’t want me to. But you don’t need to put off telling Harry for long; he should know soon.”

   


“Well, I’m hoping that this thing with Malfoy won’t last very long, because I don’t think I’ll be able to see him until it’s over with,” Ginny said sadly.

   


“Listen,” Hermione started, “why don’t you come over to our flat tomorrow and have dinner with Ron and me? It’ll be a little celebration-“

   


“Hermione, I just told you that no one else is to know about this until Harry does!”

   


“No…no, you’ve got it all wrong. It’ll be a secret celebration, between the two of us, considering that I now know. But, I won’t tell Ron until you say it’s ok. Anyway, it’s been a while since you’ve come over for dinner and I hate the fact of thinking about you here all by yourself.”

   


“Ok… that sounds nice. I could use a bit more rest too.”

   


“Yeah, you certainly do need to rest. You’ve got to start thinking about that baby now; and, eating for two.”

   


They both chuckled at Hermione’s last statement. 

   


Smiling for the first time since she and Harry were together, Ginny reveled in the news, “I can’t believe I’m finally having a baby.” 

   


“And, I’m going to be an Aunt. This is so wonderful, Ginny.  I’m going to spoil this kid so much. I’m sure Uncle Ron will enjoy doing the same.”

   


For the rest of the afternoon, Ginny and Hermione sat chatting about the baby and other things, until Hermione had to leave.

   


“Alright, we’ll see you tomorrow night, then. 6:30?”

   


“Sure, 6:30.”

   


\---------------------------

   


Hermione and Ron looked at the door with strange expressions when a knock came from it.  Looking back at each other, Ron shrugged his shoulders.

   


“Maybe it’s Dad. You know how he loves to play muggle tricks on us.”

   


Walking to the door, Hermione turned back, “but why would he be here now?”

   


She turned the knob and opened the door to reveal Ginny, in a white summer dress.  

   


“Hey,” said Ginny.

   


“What are you doing knocking on the door? Why didn’t you just apparate here?” Hermione asked, stepping aside, letting Ginny come in.

   


“I just decided, on a whim, to take muggle transportation,” she replied, but quickly dropped to a whisper, “I also heard somewhere that it wasn’t good to apparate while you’re _pregnant_.”

   


Shutting the door Hermione caught Ginny by the arm and whispered back. “That’s just a myth Ginny. You just have to be extra careful, that’s all.”

   


Ron walked out of the kitchen and mocked after her, “So, you’re turning into dad are you?”

   


“No, I’m not turning into dad, Ron. I just felt like enjoying a nice ride,” Ginny replied and promptly stuck out her tongue at him.

   


Rolling her eyes at the two of them, Hermione headed back for the kitchen. “Ginny, why don’t you go on and sit down? Ron, stop irritating your sister and come help me finish things in the kitchen.”

   


“Yes, sweetie,” Ron said and narrowed his eyes at Ginny. She couldn’t help but laugh at how he was wrapped around Hermione’s finger.

   


Ginny sat down at the table and twiddled her thumbs. She didn’t like having nothing to do. “You sure you don’t need more help in the kitchen?”

   


“Nope, we’ve got it.” Ron called.

   


Ginny heard a tapping at the window and turned to see an owl holding a letter, waiting for someone to let him in.  She got up and opened the window, taking the letter from the owl. 

   


“Ron, an owl’s come for you.”

   


“Really?” he said meeting her at the window.

   


“Do you have anything for him?”

   


“Oh…yeah,” he said as he opened the letter, “it’s in the kitchen.”

   


As Ginny went to go get a treat for the owl, Ron quickly read the letter, his face turning pale as he continued on.

   


“Ron…Ron, you alright?” Ginny said and he jerked the letter from her reach.

   


“Yeah…fine. Hermione, can I see you in the bedroom?” he said, already walking back in that direction.

   


“Can’t this wait-“

   


“No, it cannot!” He yelled. This didn’t sound like the beginning to one of their arguments, which confused Ginny a little.

   


Ginny waited for almost five minutes before Hermione came out of the room; however, Ron didn’t follow.  

   


“Where’s he run to? And what was that all about?” she asked.

   


Hermione thought carefully before answering her question. “He…just had to pop out to get some pumpkin juice. We’re all out and unless you want water, we had to get you something.”

   


“You still didn’t answer part of my question. What was the owl about?”

   


“Oh…erm…n-nothing.” Hermione, too, looked very weak and frail all of a sudden.

   


“Hermione, if you don’t stop lying to me, I’m going to-“  
  


“Look…Ron will just have to tell you about it when he comes back. He didn’t tell me very much,” snapped 


End file.
